Intimidation of Jewish people was particularly prevalent in Europe

The Pew Research Center found that Jews were harassed by governments or social groups in 77 countries of the 198 in the study, up from 71 countries the year before. The study measured both instances of government policies that restrict religious practices and private acts of hostility and found that Jews were far more likely to face private attacks or abuse than other religious groups.

Christianity, the world’s most widespread religion, faced instances of harassment in 102 countries. Among Christians, most instances involved government harassment. Muslims were harassed in 99 countries.

Harassment of Jews in 2013 was particularly prevalent in Europe. Among 45 European countries, 34 registered instances of private attacks on Jews, a higher proportion than any other geographic region. In March 2013, for example, three men attacked a young man wearing a kippah in a Paris suburb, threatening, “We will kill all of you Jews.” In August, vandals painted a Swastika on the walls of a bull ring outside Madrid. Some 32 countries in Europe saw private attacks on Muslims.

Among the world’s 25 largest countries, the study found that overall levels of harassment against all religious groups were highest in Burma, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan and Russia. But overall, the share of countries worldwide with social hostilities involving religion declined in 2013 — dropping six percentage points from 33% to 27%.

Why Napoleon Probably Should Have Just Stayed in Exile the First Time

Feb. 26, 1815: Napoleon escapes from Elba to begin his second conquest of France

For the man with history’s first recorded Napoleon complex, it must have been the consummate insult. After Napoleon Bonaparte’s disastrous campaign in Russia ended in defeat, he was forced into exile on Elba. He retained the title of emperor — but of the Mediterranean island’s 12,000 inhabitants, not the 70 million Europeans over whom he’d once had dominion.

Two hundred years ago today, on Feb. 26, 1815, just short of a year after his exile began, Napoleon left the tiny island behind and returned to France to reclaim his larger empire. It was an impressive effort, but one that ended in a second defeat, at Waterloo, and a second exile to an even more remote island — Saint Helena, in the South Atlantic, where escape proved impossible. And he didn’t even get to call himself emperor.

From this new prison perspective, he may have missed Elba. After all, as much as he hated the idea of his reduced empire, he didn’t seem to dislike the island itself. His mother and sister had moved there with him, and they occupied lavish mansions. According to a travel writer for the Telegraph, “Though his wife kept away, his Polish mistress visited. He apparently also found comfort in the company of a local girl, Sbarra. According to a contemporary chronicler, he ‘spent many happy hours eating cherries with her.’”

It was easy to believe — until he fled — that he meant what he said when he first arrived: “I want to live from now on like a justice of the peace.” He tended to his empire with apparent gusto, albeit on a smaller scale than he was used to. In his 300 days as Elba’s ruler, Napoleon ordered and oversaw massive infrastructure improvements: building roads and draining marshes, boosting agriculture and developing mines, as well as overhauling the island’s schools and its entire legal system.

The size of the island, it seemed, did not weaken Napoleon’s impulse to shape it in his own image. The title of emperor brought out the unrepentant dictator in him, so confident in his own vision that, as TIME once attested, he “never doubted that [he] was wise enough to teach law to lawyers, science to scientists, and religion to Popes.”

When a collection of Napoleon’s letters was published in 1954, TIME noted that his “prodigious” vanity was most apparent in the letters he’d written from Elba, in which “he referred to his 18 marines as ‘My Guard’ and to his small boats as ‘the Navy.’ ”

The Elbans seemed to think as highly of their short-lived emperor as he did of himself. They still have a parade every year to mark the anniversary his death (on May 5, 1821, while imprisoned on his other exile island). And, as TIME has pointed out, “not every place that the old Emperor conquered is so fond of his memory that they annually dress a short man in a big hat and parade him around…”

Read TIME’s review of a collection of Napoleon’s letters, here in the archives: From the Pen of N

Al-Jazeera Journalists Arrested for Flying Drone in Paris

The arrests have not been linked to the drone sightings throughout the city this week

Three Al-Jazeera journalists were arrested in Paris on Wednesday, allegedly for flying a drone.

The television reporters flew a drone from a park to the edge of the city, according to mediareports. Flying drones without permission is illegal in the French capital, but the three are also suspected of having stolen the remote-controlled vehicle.

“One of the journalists was flying the drone, and the other was filming,” a source told Reuters.

The arrest comes during a week where there have been many night-time drone sightings over the city, though the journalists have not been linked to those incidents.

Drones Spotted Over Paris Again

For the second time in two days

Drones were again spotted overnight hovering above Paris on Wednesday, prompting an investigation in the city just a day after they were first spotted.

Between 11 p.m. Tuesday and 2 a.m. Wednesday, the unmanned aerial vehicles were spotted above Rue de Vaugirard, the Assembly, the city’s east train station, Porte de Saint-Ouen and Porte de la Chapelle, CNN reports.

Its unclear whether the drones are recreational and to whom they belong, but they’ve put authorities on edge following the terrorist attacks in the city last month.

Just a day earlier, five drones were seen over the Eiffel Tower, the Bastille, Place de la Concorde, Les Invalides and the U.S. Embassy, said Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office.

Mysterious Drones Spotted Over Paris

Antoine Antoniol—Getty ImagesThe Eiffel Tower is seen before the lights are switched off for Earth Hour 2012, on March 31, 2012 in Paris, France.

Flights over U.S. embassy and landmarks raise surveillance concerns

French police are searching for the pilots behind several mysterious drones that were seen cruising over Paris landmarks and secured compounds on Monday and Tuesday nights.

Unmanned aerial vehicles are already prohibited across the French capital, the Wall Street Journal reports, but the flights spotted this week have raised surveillance concerns in a city that is on high alert after the January terrorist attacks. The drones were seen flying near the Eiffel Tower, the U.S. Embassy and the Interior Ministry.

Police have not yet established how many drones were involved, or whether there was any connection between the flights.

How People Around the World Eat Their Yogurt

Americans may be largely alone in their Greek obsession, a new report shows

Any trip down the yogurt aisle makes it all too clear—yogurt is having a moment. Greek yogurt alone soared from 4% of the U.S. yogurt market in 2008 to 52% in 2014. But Greek isn’t the only yogurt game globally. A new report reveals that how (and when) people like their yogurt varies greatly from country to country.

To assess yogurt preferences, DSM Food Specialties, a global manufacturer of food enzymes and ingredients, surveyed 6,000 men and women in six major markets: Brazil, China, France, Poland, Turkey and the United States. More than 53% of people surveyed report eating more yogurt than they did three years ago, even in countries with a robust history of yogurt consumption.

United States

John Minchillo—AP Images for Chobani

36% of Americans surveyed preferred Greek yogurt, and the U.S. was the only country whose citizens named it as the favorite variety. Americans were also more likely to eat yogurt for breakfast and the most likely to pair yogurt with fruit.

China

Getty Images

In China, people prefer to drink their yogurt; only 11% eat it by spoon. 54% prefer a probiotic variety, much more than the other markets. A full 83% of surveyed Chinese reported actively looking for probiotics in yogurt, compared to 50% or less in other countries—most choose it for its gastrointestinal benefits. (Not all yogurts contain added probiotics, but it’s a growing trend.) The growth of yogurt popularity in China is somewhat surprising, given the high rate of lactose intolerance in the population—though the survey does show that 60% of Chinese men and women believe lactose-free yogurt is healthier than other yogurt.

France

Turkey

Getty Images

In Turkey, 77% of yogurt lovers prefer eating it as part of a warm meal, and plain yogurt is the most common kind. Even though yogurt was a staple in Turkey before the recent fad, 60% of Turkish men and women surveyed say they are eating more yogurt now than three years ago.

U.N. Human Rights Group Condemns Chelsea Fans Over Racist Incident

"It is important to build on the outrage created by this snapshot of the ugly face of racism"

The United Nations human rights group has condemned the Chelsea soccer fans who shouted racist chants and prevented a French citizen of African descent from boarding a train before a Champions League game in Paris this week.

A video showing the incident has gained worldwide attention, and renewed calls for racism to be stamped out of the world’s most popular sport.

“In recent years we have been engaging in discussions with [football associations] about exploring ways to enhance the effort to drum racism out of football after numerous examples of racist behavior by football fans, especially inside stadiums,” said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on Friday. “It is important to build on the outrage created by this snapshot of the ugly face of racism, to re-energize the effort to combat it in all its forms wherever it occurs,” he added.

The episode occurred on Tuesday in a Paris Metro station before a game between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain. Chelsea suspended three people from its Stamford Bridge home after the incident and called the behavior “abhorrent.”

International soccer leagues have attempted for years to counter racism evident on and off the field, with mixed success.

Watch Chelsea Soccer Fans Push a Black Man Off Paris Metro

The group of men then began chanting "We’re racist, we’re racist, and that’s the way we like it"

A video showing a group of Chelsea soccer fans harassing and pushing a black man off a Paris Metro train has gone viral.

The short clip shows a group of rowdy men, fans of the English Premier League team Chelsea, chanting on a metro train while it was stopped at Richelieu–Drouot station on Tuesday evening when Chelsea was in the city for a Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain. The video then shows a black man attempt to step onto the train with them, before being twice blocked and shoved by the men. The men are then shown singing and chanting the words, “We’re racist, we’re racist and that’s the way we like it.”

The clip, which was first published by the Guardian, has drawn widespread condemnation, particularly from English soccer fans.

Chelsea released a statement following the video’s release, saying: “Such behavior is abhorrent and has no place in football or society. We will support any criminal action against those involved, and should evidence point to involvement of Chelsea season-ticket holders or members the club will take the strongest possible action against them, including banning orders.”

British expatriate Paul Nolan filmed the video on his mobile phone after he realized the disruptive men were English. He told the BBC that before the clip began the men had also made references to World War II. Nolan said it was unclear whether the men were intoxicated, adding “I think there was a certain amount of pack mentality.”

Watch the Abuse This Jewish Man Gets as He Walks Through Paris

The team filmed for 10 hours to get 90 seconds of material and they had to go to the roughest areas of Paris to get it

+ READ ARTICLE

Zvika Klein, a journalist who works for the Israeli news outlet NRG, filmed himself walking the streets of Paris for ten hours one day while wearing a yarmulke. The video opens with Klein putting on the traditional Jewish skullcap in front of the Eiffel Tower, before walking around the city. Along the way, Klein experiences what he describes as “fear and loathing,” as the camera catches people spitting on the ground near him, shouting “Viva Palestine” or simply saying, “Jew” or “Juif.”

The video has been edited down into a minute and a half and Klein had to go to areas where he, or any outsider, was likely to arouse attention. Klein, who wore a tzitzit or tasseled prayer garment to emphasise his identity, told the BBC that filming took place earlier this month and that while few incidents took place in the central areas of Paris, the outskirts of the city were a different story. “As we went to the suburbs, or certain neighbourhoods in the city, the remarks became more violent,” he said. (Klein also told the BBC that some bystanders also spoke out against the abusive comments he received.)

Klein’s video, which has been viewed nearly a million times since it was posted on Sunday, reflects a threat felt by more and more Jewish people in Europe, where anti-Semitic incidents are being increasingly reported. That fear is more pronounced following terrorist attacks in both Copenhagen and Paris earlier this year.

5 Plaintiffs Drop Pimping Accusations Against DSK

Francois Lo Presti—AFP/Getty ImagesFormer IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn leaves his hotel on Feb. 16, 2015, in the northern French city of Lille.

He's 14 people accused of involvement in a prostitution ring run out of a hotel in Lille

(LILLE, France) — A high-profile pimping case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn nearly unraveled Monday, as five of six plaintiffs in a French prostitution trial dropped their accusations against him, saying there’s no proof that the former International Monetary Fund chief violated the law.

Strauss-Kahn has testified to having orgies while he was managing the world financial crisis, to being “rough” with his sexual “conquests,” and to needing sex with exceptional frequency. But none of that is illegal.

As the trial in northern France entered its third and final week Monday, it looked increasingly likely that the onetime presidential contender will walk away with a clean criminal record.

Strauss-Kahn is accused of aggravated pimping over a series of sex parties in France, Washington and Brussels, while he was leading the IMF, and was married. He’s one of 14 people accused of involvement in a prostitution ring run out of the Hotel Carlton in Lille.

Strauss-Kahn insists he didn’t know the women involved were prostitutes. Two of his co-defendants say they recruited and paid the women themselves, and built a wall of silence to ensure that Strauss-Kahn wasn’t aware.

Lawyers for four prostitutes and an association that had filed suit announced Monday that they are abandoning their pursuit of Strauss-Kahn, court officials said. The five plaintiffs maintained accusations against other defendants in the trial, but the prostitutes are seeking only one euro in symbolic damages from the others, the officials said.

Only one association, a group pushing to abolish prostitution called Nid or “nest,” maintained its accusations against Strauss-Kahn and his 13 co-defendants.

That could still be enough to persuade the three-judge panel to hand down convictions.

But even the prosecutor didn’t think there was enough of a case against Strauss-Kahn, and argued in 2013 against including him in the trial. Under French law, investigating judges can override prosecutors’ recommendations and send someone to trial anyway, which they did with Strauss-Kahn.

He faces up to 10 years in prison and 1.5 million euros ($1.7 million) in fines if convicted. But Prosecutor Frederic Fevre could argue for acquittal for Strauss-Kahn during closing arguments Tuesday, focusing instead on getting convictions for other defendants.

During three days of surrealistic testimony by Strauss-Kahn about the orgies, the prosecutor and his assistant remained largely silent.

Sometimes in tears, two prostitutes described “beast-like” scenes, involving sometimes brutal sex practices. One said she felt like meat in a slaughterhouse.

The testimony showed what one lawyer called the “sordid and dark reality” of the sex business. But the prostitutes said they had participated of their own accord and were never paid directly by Strauss-Kahn, and never told him they were paid sex workers.

Even a plaintiff’s lawyer acknowledged the case isn’t black and white. “I have the absolute certainty that Mr. Strauss-Kahn knew that there were some prostitutes in this international ring. Is that sufficient to establish a pimping offense? We will debate about that,” lawyer David Lepidi said.

Strauss-Kahn’s IMF job and presidential chances collapsed in 2011 when he was arrested in New York on accusations that he sexually assaulted a hotel maid. Those charges were later dropped and he settled out of court. He was also accused of attempted rape of a French writer; that case was dropped because the statute of limitations had expired.

The Lille case is the first time he has been put on trial. He openly testified to extravagant sex, but said he thought the women present were “libertines” like himself.

While the line between politicians’ public and private lives has blurred somewhat in France in recent years, it remains more acceptable here for a politician to have extra-marital sexual encounters than in some other countries. French President Francois Hollande elicited shock and criticism in the United States when caught by paparazzi visiting a lover on his motorbike, but a year later, French voters have largely moved on.

As this trial unfolds, there’s a sense that Strauss-Kahn crossed beyond even what the French tolerate from their politicians. But that doesn’t necessarily mean he will go to prison.

To prove that Strauss-Kahn is guilty, the trial has to show that Strauss-Kahn knew the women were prostitutes, and that he arranged their activities as prostitutes or profited financially from them. Prostitution is legal in France, but it’s illegal to organize a prostitution ring or profit from a prostitute’s business.

Investigating magistrates said text messages between Strauss-Kahn and another defendant show that Strauss-Kahn was the “central pivot and principal beneficiary” of the orgies. On occasion, he was the “instigator” and the only beneficiary, sexually serviced by several women at once, they wrote. They also said he facilitated prostitution by providing an apartment for some of the women to work.

Those arguments, however, came up only briefly at the trial.

Strauss-Kahn, who has appeared increasingly confident throughout the proceedings, may take the stand himself Friday for a closing statement. The judges will decide Friday when to deliver a verdict.

Chief judge Bernard Lemaire opened the trial by stressing the court would not judge sexual activities among consenting adults.

“The court,” he said, “is not the guardian of moral order, but of the law.”

___

Charlton reported from Paris. Catherine Gaschka in Lille also contributed.